THIS Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1942. SUGAR RATIONING

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 51, Issue 3105, 13 April 1942, Page 4

THIS Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1942. SUGAR RATIONING

Sugar rationing, which is shortly to be introduced in this country, presents certain knotty practical problems, the official solution of which will be awaited with interest. The use of sugar and therefore, the demand for it, for household purposes, is regulated nowadays largely by domestic circumstances. Some housewives, especially flat-dwell-ers'in the city, do little or no baking, jam-making or preserving, and require sugar only for sweetening puddings and beverages. Other housewives, notably those on farms, are accustomed to buying comparatively large quantities of sugar for the preparation of “home-made” foodstuffs. If the forthcoming ration is to be fixed on a basis of average consumption per capita the latter group is likely to be penalised and the former group unaffected. And if this occurs the anomaly will be all the greater because home industries, such as fruit-preserving, are deserving of every encouragement in wartime. It would seem that the only equitable ration would be one Which represented a percentage of the amount normally purchased, and this in many cases would be a difficult figure to arrive at. The problem is not only one of being fair to all: it also has an important economic aspect. If home manufacture of jam and preserves be discouraged by inequitable distribution of sugar, a greatly-increased demand for canned foodstuffs will be caused —and the country can ill spare either the labour or the incidental material (such as tinned sheet-iron) which would be required for the increased production of such goods. PILLAGING PREVALENT Recent reports of extensive pillaging of beer consignments recalls previous reports of the losses suffered through the prevalence of this class of offence. These losses, it has been stated, run into many thousands of pounds annually. Pillaging on the scale now reported suggests that supervision has been strict enough to check the evil. This must be tightened up, and offenders when convicted dealt with in exemplary fashion as a deterrent to others. Though these and other dishonest practices continually before the courts are indicative of a widespread deterioration in respect for the property of others, it seems little use appealing on moral grounds for a resurgence of higher ethical principles in conduct to individuals who seem to regard pilfering as no crime as long as they can go undetected. The only practicable means of putting a stop to their activities is greater vigilance on the part of the police and stern punishment by the courts.